Agartala, April 11, 2023: The Government of India wants to develop economic corridors with neighbouring countries along with the North Eastern states of the country, union DoNER minister G Kishan Reddy said at the inaugural function of the 3rd India Japan Intellectual Conclave organized at Hotel Polo Tower on Tuesday evening.

In this conclave, the union minister of state for External Affairs and Education Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, State Industries and Commerce Minister Santana Chakma, Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Minister Shahriar Alam and Japanese Ambassador to India Hiroshi Suzuki among others were present.

The theme of the conclave is “North East India, Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal in the Indo-Pacific Building on Partnership: The Way Forward”, organized with the support of the state government and jointly organized by the Ministry of External Affairs of India and the North Eastern Council. Luminaries from Japan, Bangladesh and India jointly inaugurated the conclave.

In the conclave, union minister Reddy said that the North Eastern states are rich in natural resources. The cooperation of the neighbouring countries in the development of this region is important for both India and Bangladesh.

He said that in the past few years, there have been many changes in the communication system of North Eastern states. Road, rail, air service, inland waterways communication system has improved tremendously. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, about Rs 5 lakh crore have been spent on the development of North Eastern region. He said that the central government is working on the implementation of the Act East policy.

Incidentally, he said, today he inspected the work of Agartala Akhaura Rail Link Project. He said that the use of Bangladesh’s Chittagong and Mongla sea ports will further expand the communication system of neighboring countries with the region. Reddy wished success to this conclave.

In the discussion, the union minister of state for External Affairs and Education Rajkumar Ranjan Singh said “Our central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working on various schemes to improve the development potential of the North Eastern region. Act East Policy is being implemented to strengthen financial, cultural and strategic ties with the countries of the region.” He also wished the conclave success.

Japanese Ambassador to India Hiroshi Suzuki, Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam participated in the discussion. The guests officially released a report titled ‘Assessing Connectivity between North East India and Bangladesh: Towards a Prosperous Bay of Bengal Region’. Sabyasachi Dutta, Executive Director of Asian Confluence, welcomed everyone at the beginning of the event.